Asus ROG Strix XG27UQ review - Tested

ASUS ROG Strix XG27UQ 4k / 144 Hz / G-SYNC / HDR / DCS
ROG Monitor Addresses Chroma Subsampling

In this review, we look at the ROG Strix XG27UQ, and what a singular product we test today. In specifications and quality, I mean, as the ROG Strix XG27UQ is a 27" Ultra HD slash HDR rated monitor. This 3840x2160 pixels monitor can handle 144Hz combined with GSYNC and is a DCS monitor, and that means no chroma subsampling / color compression issues.

We will take a look at Ultra HD slash HDR gaming in on this 27" screen. So that means a native 3840x2160 pixel monitor with AHVA (IPS-type) based panel that can handle 144Hz combined with GSYNC compatible and FreeSync modes. A big label on the box of this monitor is DCS (Display Stream Compression); there are no chroma subsampling issues to be found with this technology. DSC makes it possible to transfer 4K, HDR at 144Hz over a single DisplayPort 1.4 connection, monitors without DSC running 4K at 4:4:4 HDR can only reach 98Hz, we'll talk about that a bit more on the next page though. First, lets bullet up some of the key features this monitor offers. This screen series has been delayed quite a bit but finally made the market at a price sitting just under 900 USD/EUR. I'll address the elephant in the room immediately,  HDR. This pricy monitor has been rated at HDR400, which for HDR standards is not a lot. You'll get a 350 cd/㎡ Typical and 400 cd/㎡ Peak brightness and also 1.07b (8-bit + FRC). Yes, this is one of the reasons why the screen is G-Sync compatible, and not Ultimate as the HDR requirements do not match up. The panel is LED-backlit. The display is completed with an advertised typical 1000:1 contrast, a response time of 1 millisecond (1ms MPRT / 4ms GtG), 90% DCI-P3 color space, 125% sRGB, which is high-grade.  Adaptive-sync is supported to offer VRR from both AMD and NVIDIA systems (48 - 144Hz VRR range). Also, ELMB (“Extreme Low Motion Blur“) is possible concurrently with Adaptive Sync.

I'll immediately jump into my journalistic operating mode though, 27-inches for Ultra HD is SMALL, perhaps even too small for this monitor. Overall at 24 inches up to 27 inches, I feel panels at 2560x1440 work best due to pixel density, then 3440x1440 to 3840x2160 (UHD) is preferred at 32". Of course, once you setup your screen at 3840x2160/144hz, you can and will switch Windows DPI scaling (150% works best) and that will solve most of the scaling issues, but we feel you need to tackle the problem, and tot the cause.

The ROG Strix XG27UQ is a monitor that is currently priced at € 929,- This 27-inch monitor can drive its panel at 144Hz. ROG Swift PG43UQ offers four video inputs in the form of 2x DisplayPort 1.4 + 2x HDMI 2.0, we have 2x USB 3.0 ports, and a headphone jack, GamePlus technology (add crosshead, clock, FPS counter, etc.), GameVisual with eight pre-configured modes for various screen modes (shooters, races, MOBA, cinema, etc.), shadow reinforcement to improve the visibility of the enemy in the dark, a pair of stereo speakers, compatible with VESA 100 x 100 mm brackets, only the inclination of the panel can be adjusted, and display a ROG logo on the table, color configurable with Aura SYNC software. The product description of the ASUS XG27UQ sounds very promising, which is why we are looking forward to a new test.